Holiday ballet returns

Thursday

Dec 6, 2012 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | “The Nutcracker” represented a magical world that called to young Becca Brewbaker.This year, landing the role of “Snow” and “Arabian,” she was one of 55 dancers, ages 7 to 21, cast in the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers production of “The Nutcracker.”

By Kim EatonStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | She watched, spellbound, as the beautiful ballerinas danced across the stage. A tale of fierce battles, enchanted wonderlands and mystical creatures, “The Nutcracker” represented a magical world that called to young Becca Brewbaker.“I remember really wanting to be like them,” said the 15-year-old home-schooled sophomore. “They were so pretty.”Brewbaker’s wish came true. For the past several years, she has been one of the “pretty ballerinas” dancing across the stage to the familiar score by famed composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This year, landing the role of “Snow” and “Arabian,” she was one of 55 dancers, ages 7 to 21, cast in the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers production of “The Nutcracker.” The ballet runs Dec. 14-16 at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more than 30 years, the nonprofit Tuscaloosa Community Dancers has performed the classic ballet. Bringing together three area dance schools — Academy of Ballet and Jazz, the Dance Centre and MJ’s Academy of Dance — and university students, as well as a few professional guest artists, the group’s annual ballet has become a holiday tradition for many in the community.“You have to do ‘Nutcracker.’ There’s decorations around town, Christmas music on the radio, and ‘Nutcracker’ is part of that. The holidays are just not the same without the ballet,” said Amy Cole Ahmed, interim artistic director of Tuscaloosa Community Dancers.A classic that draws in the young and young at heart, “The Nutcracker” is a story of a young girl, Clara, and her beloved nutcracker, a special gift from her godfather Drosselmeyer. When the Clara and the nutcracker enter a mystical dream world, they embark on a magical journey.“I really want people to understand the story as it unfolds on stage, to really get what ‘Nutcracker’ is about. I want them to go home with a happy feeling and a love of Christmas,” said 18-year-old Anna Grace Freeman, a Tuscaloosa County High School senior and part of Academy of Ballet and Jazz dance school. Cast as “Snow” and “Russian,” it will be Freeman’s first time performing in the community ballet. Despite the taxing rehearsals, the experience has helped her grow as a dancer, both in technique and style, and has reminded her how much she loves ballet.“When you dance, you become a character, and all of the problems and distractions of your world disappears. It’s just you and the music, telling a story,” Freeman said. For Nashville resident Maddie Winchester, 19, a University of Alabama sophomore who is playing the mother and the “Mouse King,” having an opportunity to perform a ballet that has been around for so long is “very validating” for a ballerina.“There’s a sense of connection, of timelessness that’s really fun to be a part of,” Winchester said. “And it’s such a happy Christmas story — very festive, beautiful to watch and entertaining.”The new artistic director brings a fresh approach to the ballet. While the traditional story line remains, it develops somewhat differently, Ahmed said. People who have seen the community ballet in years past may notice “little nuances” woven throughout the story this year, as well as some new set pieces, costuming and choreography. It is still, however, a classic ballet, and that is what she hopes the young dancers take away from the experience.“It teaches them what a pre-professional dance experience is like, with makeup, costuming, intense rehearsal schedule,” Ahmed said. “They also have an opportunity to keep the classics alive and learn what that really means.”